LAUSANNE: Dozens of countries committed Thursday to help clear war-torn Ukraine of massive amounts of mines and explosives, which contaminate nearly a quarter of its territory.
During a two-day conference in Switzerland, more than 40 countries backed the Lausanne Call for Action, committing to concrete actions toward humanitarian demining in Ukraine, the organizers said.
“Ukraine has become the most mined country in the world,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the conference.
He said that since Russia’s February 2022 invasion “about a quarter” of Ukraine had become covered with mines and unexploded bombs.
“The scale of this challenge is truly massive,” he said.
“We are talking about an area of approximately 140,000 square kilometers — nearly three times of size of Switzerland.”
He pointed to expert estimates that “up to 9,000 civilians could lose their lives” if action is not taken to clear away the mines.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis stressed the urgency. “Without humanitarian demining, you do not have agricultural production, you cannot feed people, you cannot let children play, you cannot build industry,” he told a press conference.
Representatives promised on the first day of the Lausanne conference to help provide “swift and safe rehabilitation of agricultural areas,” according to a Swiss statement.
They also vowed to support “the economic and social reintegration of victims with disabilities” and “the promotion of international cooperation between the various partners active on the ground.”
They committed to supporting local manufacturing of demining tools in Ukraine, as well as exchanging experience and knowledge to foster “innovative methods and technologies that increase the effectiveness of mine action” globally.
The World Bank has estimated that demining Ukraine will cost around $37 billion — a figure Shmyhal said was “likely to grow.”
He stressed the need for more demining machines, pointing out that they in a single day could carry out the equivalent of 100 days of manual labor.
Since a first Ukraine demining conference was held in Croatia last year, Kyiv has seen its number of demining machines swell from 32 to nearly 100, Shmyhal said. Several times that number were needed, he added.
More than 40 countries vow land mine help to Ukraine
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More than 40 countries vow land mine help to Ukraine
- During a two-day conference in Switzerland, more than 40 countries backed the Lausanne Call for Action, committing to concrete actions toward humanitarian demining in Ukraine
- “Ukraine has become the most mined country in the world,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the conference
US Senate candidates in Texas make final pitches to voters
- Democrats, hungry to win a Senate race for the first time since 1988, see an opening, but have their own knotty race to figure out
SAN ANTONIO: A heated US Senate race in Texas entered its final stretch on Sunday with candidates on both sides of the aisle making final pitches to voters ahead of Tuesday’s primary, the nation’s first big contest of the 2026 midterm elections.
Incumbent Republican US Sen. John Cornyn is trying to avoid being the first Republican senator from Texas to lose a primary, fighting challenges from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and US Rep. Wesley Hunt.
HIGHLIGHT
Despite his long career in Texas politics, Paxton has painted himself as a Washington outsider and a staunch supporter of Trump.
Democrats, hungry to win a Senate race for the first time since 1988, see an opening, but have their own knotty race to figure out.
US Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the rhetorical brawler and regular antagonist for President Donald Trump, is stressing her federal experience and is scheduled to meet voters in the Dallas area with Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland.
Crockett was endorsed on Friday by former Vice President Kamala Harris.
State Rep. James Talarico, a softspoken seminarian who emphasizes his crossover appeal to Republicans, was set to hold a rally in San Antonio as part of a final tour that he describes as a movement.
But Cornyn’s precarious stature as an incumbent vulnerable in his own party’s primary has been the focus of a majority of the massive sums spent by both sides in the run up to Mar. 3.
“Complacency is a killer,” Cornyn told voters on Saturday at a seafood restaurant in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. “It kills relationships. It kills careers.”
Senate Republican leaders in Washington, working to hold their thin majority, have worried out loud for months that Democrats could have a shot at a long out-of-reach Texas seat, if Republicans nominate Paxton, who is popular with MAGA voters but has had years of legal problems.
